Foundation launches “Pei for the Future”

The New College Foundation recently launched a $15 million fundraising campaign to refurbish the College’s residence halls designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei.

“After 55 years, Pei’s iconic structures are showing their age,” said Monica Van Buskirk, a Foundation board member who is spearheading the campaign. “We are inviting New College alumni, our community and beyond to participate in preserving this extraordinary architectural legacy. I.M. Pei built for the future. The humanist legacy of his work is timeless. It’s now up to us to pass it on.”

Van Buskirk noted that campaign funds will be used to replace roofs, seal buildings against water intrusion, install new cooling and heating systems, renew the courtyards, and renovate and upgrade the dormitory rooms.

“These efforts will ensure the value of Pei’s buildings well into the future,” she said. “They will also keep this unique chapter of Sarasota’s architectural history alive.”

According to Van Buskirk, that chapter is compelling.

“Pei marched to a different drummer. The same could be said for New College—even at the very beginning,” she said. “Pei’s unique, bold vision was a perfect fit for our New College.”

That vision began in 1963. After a national competition, New College’s architect selection committee unanimously chose the acclaimed Pei to create a vision for the nascent campus. The boldly geometric, cantilevered structures he designed include the Pei Residence Halls and the Hamilton Student Center.

Pei’s graceful, modernist dormitories follow the pattern of a Mediterranean village: three pavilions with interior courts clustered around a central gathering space sheltered by geometric rows of palm trees. Pei’s student center is a low-slung, cantilevered structure, protected from sun and rain with a long, concrete projection at the entrance.

Van Buskirk stressed that time is of the essence.

“This is a critical need, and we need to act quickly,” she said. “Time and the buildings’ proximity to the water has not been kind. Pei’s New College structures are priceless jewels in our region’s architectural legacy. Thanks to this campaign, they will shine once more.”

For more information about the “Pei for the Future” campaign, visit ncf.edu/peiforthefuture

For more information about I.M. Pei’s history at New College, visit ncf.edu/about/our-campus/pei/

For more information about the New College Foundation, call 941-487-4800 or visit ncf.edu/alumni-and-friends

Su Byron is the communications specialist for the New College Foundation.